A Confession of a Shopaholic

Why a book is your best friend… and not those absolutely fabulous Jimmy Choos… (because the stiletto heel is bound to break soon………….)

It had been a week and I could not take it anymore. Having watched Confessions of a Shopaholic the night before, the words “the experience is enjoyable…well more than enjoyable…its, its beautiful…the sheen of silk draped across a mannequin, the smell of new Italian leather shoes, the rush you feel when you swipe the card and its approved and it all belongs to you!” stuck in my head. Clearly I am not yet a reformed shopaholic!

So the next morning I make the inevitable journey to the shops, where I bask in my own world, with all the clothes, jewellery, bags and shoes. (Not forgetting the much needed hot chocolate to accompany me whilst making such difficult decisions!)

I arrive home after the delightful experience of shopping and am very pleased with myself for having done so much exercise; walking continuously for a consecutive amount of hours! I know this shopping will make me happy for about the next week or so – just until my grandparents arrive from New York with my next bought of shopping. (Christmas come early… Hell no… Christmas come twice!)

The next morning I woke-up to sign for a parcel. My books from Amazon had arrived! And then I realised I was feeling something quite different to the experience of swiping a card when shopping. I was excited that I could un-package all of my new books and place them with pride on my bookshelf – adding to my collection. I stood and admired by books, wondering if I was entering a moment of insanity. Then I realised that I was proud of those books because I was going to keep them forever… unlike the short-term happiness from my new clothes which are still wearing their tags and quite forgotten.

Books allow you to enter in to a new world, just like shopping, but the difference is they help you realise that the world you are in now isn’t so bad! You don’t need a scapegoat like shopping to make you happy. By reading, we enter a world where our imagination is set free. So free that when we return to our world, we may not make new discoveries, but we see with new eyes.

Let us not forget the moment when Rebecca Bloomwood said: “when I shop, the world gets better, and the world is better, but then it’s not.” When you pick up a book the world gets better… and keeps on getting better!